Girl with the Pearl Earring
by lola-write-hand
Summary: Juliet Burke's stepsister Annie left the island before the Purge, leaving behind the man she loved to pusue a web of lies invested in the attempt to destroy Widmore.But when Ben shows up on the scene for the same purpose years later, things get personal.
1. Chapter 1

Juliet placed the silver pearl chandelier earrings in her ears, dropping one to the floor with her shaky hands.

"It's been forever." She whispered to herself, slipping the fallen earring into her ear. She took a step back to examine herself in the mirror. The dress was a deep, elegant burgundy that kissed the floor and swooshed with each step. She slung the shrug over her shoulders, thinking of when she had received it.

"It's for you." Ethan said, beaming, handing it to her. "For everyone's favorite baby doctor!"

Juliet looked puzzled, as she gazed at the white fur shrug.

"It's a white rabbit shrug….From Ben." He added. Juliet half nodded, taking the sleek fur in her arms. As soon as Ethan had left, she remembered seeing two snow white rabbits caged on Ben's coffee table two days ago. Dropping the thing with nausea, Juliet abruptly proceeded to toss the contents in her stomach into the sink.

Juliet gathered her clutch, and then walked outside onto the balcony. The party was already starting, with spotlights and secrets littered among the elusive crowd in the giant courtyard of the Uganda Embassy.

"Follow the music." Juliet thought to herself. It was dark, powerful piano music that she followed, until it invaded her ears, clear and cleanly cut. The woman perched behind the grand ivory piano was surrounded by tuxedo-laden suitors, who stood around her to listen to her adaptation of Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C sharp Minor, or more direct men who placed tiffany boxes tied with blue bows under the cushioned piano seat where she played. She was petite, with dark hair and freckles that made her look sixteen. As soon as her brown eyes looked up to Juliet, she immediately stopped playing and beamed.

"Zuliet!" She said, an accent defying the 'J'. She stood up. "Oh, leave me for a moment." She said, brushing off the suitors, who reluctantly left. Juliet's eyes were wide, as the pianist named Hannah Linusmanch tugged her arm into an empty sitting room, away from curious ears.

" 'ow are you?" Hannah asked, taking Juliet in a sisterly hug. Juliet smiled. "Wonderful. You don't have to keep the accent around me, you know."

Hannah's smile faded. She looked around, and shut the doors, locking them. She drew the curtains across the wavy century old glass that touted the party in the courtyard, and bathed the room in dark.

"Widmore isn't here yet." Hannah said, in a normal American accent. "We were expecting him to arrive soon, along with the Mercenary Group."

Juliet groped around for a chair and sat down. "We?"

"Charlotte's here as well. She's serving hor'dourves."

Juliet smiled blindly as Hannah continued. "How did you get off the island?"

"That's a story I'm not willing to tell just yet.."

"Have you seen Ben?"

The question echoed in Juliet's mind. She could almost see the concerned passionate expression on her friend's face, whispering intimately of the air that troubled her mouth.

"No, I haven't, Annie."


	2. Chapter 2

A brunette girl laden in a feminine black suit tapped Charlotte Lewis on the shoulder. Red-headed Charlotte whirled around, almost spilling the hor d'oeuvres all over her. The lady smirked. "Your shift is over." She said, snatching the tray from Charlotte, whose grey eyes widened in surprise. Pathetically, she walked up the grand staircase, pressing her ear to every door until she heard the muffled voices of her colleagues and knocked.

" 'oo eez it?" Cooed Annie, putting on her accent.

"Charlotte."

In a split second, the two women opened the door, sucking Charlotte in. She turned on the lights, seeing the sisters, both dressed in evening gowns, sitting near the closeted curtains.

"I'm not a server, I'm a bloody anthropologist!" Charlotte complained, tossing her apron at the window. She then composed herself, looking both of them up and down. "I could have picked out a nice emerald dress and been the life of the party-"

Juliet smiled warmly. "Nice to see you, Charlotte."

Charlotte nodded. "Widmore hasn't arrived yet. He was on the guest list. So was the Mercenary group." She grabbed a chair and sat down. "So, how did you get off-"

"The island?" Annie said, rolling her eyes over to Juliet. "She won't tell."

"Did it have anything to do with Tunisia?" Charlotte asked giddily.

Juliet spread a modest smile on her face. "No."

"You should have seen her when she found that polar bear in the middle of the Sahara." Annie commented, folding her hands over her satiny cream dress. "I thought the heat was getting to her or something."

Charlotte laughed, and then let her facetious tone fade. " The island disappeared. We got picked up by a fishing schooner after about 12 hours, and….that was it." She rolled her pale freckled hands in knots. "Nadia was murdered three days ago."

Juliet's mouth gaped silently in terror. "Where-"

Annie picked up her question. "She was on her way to Sri Lanka. We were going to meet her at Port L'ovrea and then make our way here." A sullen expression overcame Charlotte and Annie as they exchanged glances. "She didn't even make it to the Los Angeles airport." Juliet's hand met her mouth in a fixed glance of sorrow as she revealed something herself. "Ben moved the island."

Annie looked up from the floral couch where she winded tissues like croissants. "And where would he be now?" She asked grimly.

A scream interrupted the three acquaintances, erupting into their ears, as they could hear bullets firing downstairs. Peering outside, the three women could see people ducking down, as a group of men ran through the maze of bushes in the courtyard, towards the embassy. Thinking quickly, Annie grabbed the candelabra and shoved it between the two handles of the door, locking them in the room just as the door surged forward under the weight of Widmore's mercenaries. Charlotte's head darted in all directions, searching for a plan of escape. Juliet quickly opened the window, looking down from her two-story place of stand. It had to be nearly 30 feet to the ground. The soldiers again pushed against the steadfast door, cracking the candelabra.

"Jump!" Juliet said, as Annie looked off in a trance at the picture on the far wall of the posh sitting room. Tearing her dress, Juliet hurried her friend to the window ledge, and pushed her off, into the courtyard just as the door burst open.

**LOST4815162342LOST**

"We're leaving." Annie said softly, as she eyed her periwinkle converses that limply hung from the swings. Sixteen year old Benjamin Linus looked over to her, loving concern on his quiet face. She only glanced up at him, innocent freckles beaming in the humid sun, and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Dad's getting married next month. He's already got a job in Portland." She bit her lip so hard that it went numb. "She's really nice." Annie tried to force a hopeful look on Ben, but it turned out only as the most sorrowful expression he had ever seen, pathetically trying to be feigned by a transparent mask of joy.

"Y-you're not coming back, are you?" Ben asked, afraid to hear the answer.

"No." Tears pricked at her eyes. "No, Ben, we're not." A long pause. Ben stood up, and stood in front of her on the swing. Annie looked up at the blue skies, grasped the swing, standing up on her toes.

"You know he's leaving because of…" She was lost for words as she saw his pure blue eyes watery as well. "They can't be trusted, Ben."

"Trust me, Annie. They'll be gone." He took her hands as she shut her eyes, trying to compose herself. "Just a few more years of them…of this."

"No." She opened her tear stricken eyes with zealous determination. "I've had enough. You know what they're doing; I know what they're doing. And my father is being smart for not wanting to be here when they all doom themselves…" She looked around at the empty barracks, and quickly kissed him on the lips. "You'll be wise enough to escape." She whispered. "I don't want to leave you here." She turned away, hoping that he wouldn't see her crying, and lifted the swing over her head, letting his hand go from hers.

"You can't leave!" Ben cried suddenly. Annie was almost half-way to her house as she turned around, flushed red with tears. He ran up to her awkwardly, stared at her for a long moment, before pulling her into his embrace. Their fingers entwined as she rested her head on his shoulder, before hesitantly leaning in to kiss him, and then backing away. Her brown eyes searched his, before she finally sighed and turned around, running to her house.

It was the last time Ben had ever seen Annie.


	3. Letter from the Author

**Author's note:** _Thanks for the reviews, all! I went back and read my Ben/Annie part and cringed. I have an odd habit of writing my stories at about 11PM and then publishing them while I'm half-asleep. I was trying out- what's it called again?- fluff. That's it. I was seeing if fluff cuts it. And it doesn't. Because it's really really easy just to make romance out of kissy kissy goo goo stuff. And that's not usually how I am. I like to take the hard road. Give them more of an emotional connection. So, if you liked that fluffy part- great! If you didn't, I apologize. My eyes kind of twitched when I read it and I was like "Did I actually write all that junk?"_

_But, anyway. This story is in no way affiliated with the 'Annie' Trilogy that I'm writing. Speaking of that, I may put this story on hold so I can have time to work on my second annexation in the 'Annie' series. But, don't give up hope! When all is said and done, I'll be back to work on this. Thanks, and I'm sorry for starting this out and immediately ending it. _

_**lola-write-hand**_


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